Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-08-26
Friday, August az. 1857.
VISION.

That confident dispenser OF stats
tics, Edward Atkinson, was severely
taken to task by Prot. E. r. James, o.
the University Of Pennsylvania, al
the meeting ofithe American Associa'
ton for the advancement of science al
New York the other day. Prof
James was talking Of "the testimon ny
of statistics as to u national pro
gress." He said: PROF. Atkinson
had said that the wages of laboring
men had risen very considerable. Yet
of uinety-eight chief industries, the
national bureau of statistics showed
that only about twenty-niDe per cent.
kept men employed 800 days. In the
coal industry the men worked less
than 200 days. The 1000 laborers In
one industry were employed only lSS
days In the year. The cum Of money
needed for an average workingman's
II wing was always beyond what the
majority Of lsborers could actually
earn under existing conditions. Prot
Atkinson has said that the sum Of $3.50
a year for q family of five persons was
enough. For great centers Of populs
ton this was not enough. No expen'
ses for school books or recreation were
allowed in this computation. "Sts'
tistics may give us false ideas II they
are not used with discretion. The
conditions of life are becoming more
and more severe The prizes open tC
the successful are growing larger, but
the number Of blanks Is also rapidly In
creasing. There 10 q grave social
problem which will require the most
cautious action, II il is TO be solved
without seriously disturbing our so
cial order. / recall the time wher q
farm hand In Illinois could earn
enough money to buy and stock q fifty
acre farm. and when in New York OF
Pennsylvania a mechanic without
capital could start q business which
might become the largest Of its kind
in the United States. Neither Is now
possible. Capital 10 required now
from the start. Some men have risen
from the position Of day laborer t.
that Of capitalist by virtue Of theil
shrewdness. Many Others have work
ed as hard and saved as carefully but
have nothing to show. 1t 10 little sat
isfaction TO q man to tell him he Il
poor because his neighbor IL naturally
stronger than he il. The number o
actual daily laborers is increasing
Wherever there is manufacturing OIL
large scale the hope Of laborers be
coming anything else grows smaller
Evs1 agricultural laborers have nc
hope Of becoming Independent. A
man might be contented with low
wages in an inferior position II b,
could at the same time hope for futur,
independence. Take away his hop
and his innate conservatism weakens
In order to raise the condition Of Ia
borers az q class they must deman,
ever increasing wages. Out Of thes
things arises an issue which cannot b
lightly put aside. In It we have tn
basis for a bitter and possibly long cor
tiuued struggle, and the crisis calls 70
all our wisdom and forbearance. IL |
no answer 10 say that wealth is In
cressing. Things might be twice a
bad II wealth increased twice as fast
Nor is 1t satisfactory merely to prov
that wages r increasing even III
can he proved. since the whole ques
ton Is whether they are increasing
fast enough 10 enable the laborinI
classes to keep their standard Of com
fort at q point which will max
enough Of them 80 well satified will
our present society ~ 10 enlist the SCI
vices Of a majority on the side Of goo,
order and peace. II lAboring classe
sink so low in the scale Of materis
comfort that they think they hav
nothing to lose and possibly somethin
to gain by q change, we shall be In
dangerous condition. Our lAborin
men are not becoming more and moi
c~ontented. Neither is labor disturb
ance due to foreign agitators. I'll
genuine Anglo.Saxon, Of Englis
birth, tradition and origin is one of u
most successful a~gitators, and Il
history of trades-unions gives amp